


Lost and found

by jessfreespirit



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 12:35:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18142268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessfreespirit/pseuds/jessfreespirit
Summary: You found a small scared boy, who ran out of the woods right in front of you, and couldn’t just leave him there. Meanwhile Arthur’s devastated by Isaac’s and Eliza’s death.





	Lost and found

It was too windy and sometimes it was starting to rain, so you tried to wrap up yourself in the jacket, but it couldn’t save you from the cold autumn wind, which was making you shiver. The old brown hat kept falling on your face, making you even more annoyed. You sniffed with displease and firmly grabbed the reins, making your mare stop. 

You were at the crossroads and wasn’t sure which way you had to go. John talked you into treasure hunting, but it looked like he completely forgot about it. There’s no soul around, just you and your stubborn horse, which kept flicking its tail. Well, it definitely was great to get stuck in the middle of nowhere.

“John fucking Marston,” you muttered, carefully looking back and wondering, if it was worth visiting the nearest town. Maybe you could get some good cash there? But that was unlikely, that town was known as a dump with no rich folks around.

Nudging the horse and making it go in trot, you decided not to wait for Marston any longer and to star you way back to camp, which was pretty far from here. It took you the whole day to get here, so you definitely would need to stay somewhere for the night.

You noticed a small boy coming out of the woods with a bad cut on his cheek and dirty clothes. Stopping the horse, you tensed and looked around, but didn’t notice anyone else. The boy tensed too, looking frightened and hurt.

“Hey kid, are you okay?” you said as softly as you could, not wanting to scare him even more.

The boy’s eyes were as wide as he just saw a ghost, his face, just as his clothes, was dirty and he had a cut on his cheek which was still bleeding. You frowned, wondering what happened to him, but he didn’t answer. He just kept staring, clenching his shirt in his small hands, too nervous and scared. He was really small- just four of five years old.

You dismounted and noticed how the kid took a step back, breathing heavily and staring at you.

“Look, I’m not gonna hurt you,” you showed that your arms were empty – no knifes or guns. “You look hungry, how about we start a fire and cook something?”

He was unsure, you could see that disbelief in his blue eyes, but in the end nodded and let you take his hand and lead off the road. Your mare followed you, thankfully she was a smart animal and she didn’t do anything to scare the poor boy.

You gathered some sticks and branches, starting a campfire, gladly warming your hands and then returned your attention to the kid. He hesitated, standing near the tree, definitely not trusting you.

“Come here, it’s cold today,” you smiled when you saw the boy sitting down near you.

The kid was shivering, the thin shirt wasn’t enough for being warm on such a cold autumn day. You sighed and got up, taking a blanket from your saddle and wrapping it around the boy, who gladly accepted it.

You also decided to warm up some beans which you two could it. You didn’t mind sharing.

“I see you have some blood on your face, can I take a look, please?” you tried talking as soft as you could, noticing that the boy was slowly relaxing and feeling better around you.

He nodded and you examined the cut. Grabbing some whiskey from your satchel you disinfected the wound, getting a slight squeak from a boy.

“I know it hurts, sorry,” you put away the bottle and looked at him with a concern. “Does anything else hurt?”

“No,” he said so quietly that you could barely hear him, but that was the first time you could hear his voice. It was a little shaky, he definitely was running away from something bad. Or someone. He had small cuts on his hands from the branches and bushes he ran through, but they didn’t need any desinfecting, they weren’t deep. They’d heal fast.

“That’s good then. Look, our dinner is ready,” taking a can with beans, you took a spoon and gave it to the boy. He didn’t seem to be willing to talk anymore, so you didn’t want to stress him and didn’t end up asking him any questions.

It was slowly getting dark, so you put up a tent while the kid was eating and warming near the fire, placing your bedroll in it. You couldn’t leave the boy here and decided to take him back to the camp with you tomorrow. Dutch and Hosea wouldn’t mind a new lost soul.

“Feeling better, huh?” you smiled and brushed boy’s hair, noticing that he slightly closed his eyes at that. He didn’t seem to be scared of you anymore, though looking really tired. “How about getting some sleep now? And in the morning we’ll go to the place I’m staying at? I live with good people, you’ll love them.”

As you had only one blanket you didn’t have anything to cover yourself at night, but the boy noticed that and shared the blanket, letting you lay on the bedroll next to him. He quickly fell asleep, quietly snoring, but you couldn’t. You didn’t move, not wanting to wake him up, but kept thinking about what happened to him and if it was dangerous staying here over the night.

But in the morning you packed your stuff, had breakfast with the kid and helped him to get on the horse, sitting in front of you. It was time to go home.

—

Arthur was drunk. Too drunk. He couldn’t stop thinking about Eliza and Isaac - he didn’t protect them. Whiskey blunted the feelings, but they were still too strong and kept killing him deep inside, slowly and painfully.

His vision was blurry as the burning teers kept falling from his eyes, but he just kept drinking.

That’s when John found him in the shitty saloon after a few days of trying to get him back to camp.

“Arthur, everyone’s worried,” John said. He never saw Arthur in such a bad state, but he didn’t know what had to happen to him.

“Leave me alone.”

“I’m surprised you’re still talking,” John tried to joke, but Arthur definitely wasn’t in the mood for that. He took another sip from the bottle, sighing. “Seriously. Let’s go.”

“Tell Hos- Hosea, that I’ll be back tomorrow,” Arthur said, not looking at John. “Leave me for now.”

John cursed, but left. He couldn’t understand what was going on, but Arthur didn’t seem to be willing to talk.

—

Arthur decided to go back the next day, as he told John. He sobered up a little, but didn’t bother taking a bath in the town or eating anything.

He didn’t deserve anything. They were killed because of him.

By the evening he got back, noticing Hosea approaching him with a worried look on his face.

“What’s going on, Arthur? You alright?”

Shrugging, Arthur dismounted and faced Hosea, not saying anything.

“They’re dead, Hosea,” bluntly said Arthur, noticing how Hosea’s face changed. “And that’s because of me.”

Hosea wanted to say something, but then heard Dutch yelling to him.

“Arthur! Go and meet our new friend,” Arthur frowned and looked away, noticing a small figure sitting near the campfire, glued to Y/N’s side.

Not wanting to discuss anything, being too devastated, Arthur took a deep breath and decided to go to his tent. But when he was closer he saw the boy’s face…

“Isaac…” Arthur muttered, not believing his eyes, wondering if he was just drunk or dreaming. 

Dutch noticed Arthur and walked to him.

“Y/N found that boy somewhere in the woods,” he explained and frowned, noticing Arthur’s face expression. “What’s wrong?”

But Arthur ignored Dutch, turning around and walking to the campfire, his heart beating too fast in his chest and tears falling from his eyes. He grabbed Isaac and hugged him so tight, scaring the boy, but when he recognized who that was, hugged him back.

“Daddy!” Isaac burst into tears wrapping his arms around Arthur’s neck and burrying his face in his shirt. “They killed mummy! They-”

“Everything’s fine, Isaac,” Arthur said, holding Isaac and closing his eyes. He was alive, thanks god. He was alive. “You got me.”

“I was so scared,” Isaac said. 

“You’re safe now,” Arthur carefully brushed Isaac’ hair, noticing that he looked clean and was wearing nice clothes. Looked like he was in the camp for awhile, while Arthur was just getting drunk. Idiot.

Nobody wanted to disturb father and son, understanding what happened. You got up and was about to leave, when the kid, now you knew his name was Isaac, called you.

“Don’t go!” he asked, lifting his head and looking at you with his red eyes. “Please.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” you reassured him, seeing Arthur turning around with Isaac in his hands.

“So you two know each other?”

“I found him,” you explained. “Brought him to the camp.”

Arthur nodded and got distracted by Isaac, who was saying something into his ear so quiet you couldn’t understand what was it. You smiled and decided to go back to your tent.

Everything seemed to be so unreal. So Arthur had a son? You never heard about that, but was glad for the boy. He looked really sad and scared before coming to the camp, but Hosea and Dutch were really welcoming, just like the others.

You woke up too early, deciding not to lay in bed for too long. Grabbing a cup of coffee, you stood near the trees, watching the sun rise. And then you heard someone’s steps behind you.

Turning around, you noticed Arthur standing behind. He looked nervous and kept looking away.

“So, Y/N, just wanted to thank you. For bringing him here,” Arthur said with his husky voice.

You smiled.

“I’m glad he’s fine. Just like you.”

Suddenly Arthur pulled you into a hug, burrying his face into your neck.

“Thank you,” he whispered again and then left a quick kiss on your cheek. 

You blushed and looked at him, not sure what to say, but then you two were interrupted by Isaac, who ran out of Arthur’s tent.

“Y/N! Look!” he stopped in front of you and gave you a flower.

“This is so beautiful, thank you Isaac,” you smiled, noticing with how much love Arthur was looking at his son.

Isaac’s small hand took yours, leading to the campfire.

You smiled at Arthur, who just smirked.

“Sorry, a little busy now,” you said, following Isaac.

Thanks god you found him.


End file.
